Moscow's notorious Butyrka prison has housed everyone from Alexander Solzhenitsyn to Hitler's nephew. And before the end of the year, its inmates will be able to go tanning. That's great, actually.

The move comes in the wake of one high-profile inmate death—prominent lawyer Sergei Magnitsky—and who knows how many unheralded ones. Russia's prisons are overcrowded, with over half of the inmates ill. HIV and tuberculosis are widespread. So even if using sunbeds for medical purposes seems like overkill, better to err on the side of caution.

Inmates will also have access to ultrasound systems to check on their health, and use Skype to contact friends and loved ones. Of course, there's the question of what's medicine and what's pampering. Which is why although they're contemplating "spa facilities such as mud baths" in the near future, they might want to quit while they're ahead. [Reuters via The Daily What]